This invention concerns low-cost, disposable, protective footwear that can be easily and quickly put on and removed from the foot.
People in public places are sometimes required to remove their shoes, leaving them barefoot. (As used herein, the term “barefoot” refers to feet without shoes whether or not the feet are covered by socks or stockings, and the term “shoes” refers to all types of outer footwear, e.g., leather dress shoes, moccasins, sneakers, slippers, sandals, boots, and clogs.) For example, passengers at airports are often required to remove their shoes for inspection at security checkpoints and to pass through metal detectors while still barefoot. Aside from the possible discomfort caused by being barefoot on cold floors, walking on those floors, which are often heavily trafficked, is unsanitary.
Providing temporary footwear that has been pre-checked by security personnel to the millions of passengers around the world who travel by air each day so that they could pass through security checkpoints without being barefoot would be an almost impossible task. In the United States alone, there are on average about 1.7 million airline passengers each day. Even if only a third of them were required to remove their shoes for security screening, well over a million separate pieces of temporary footwear would be required for them. Unfortunately, it is possible that eventually all passengers will be required to remove their shoes and walk barefoot through security screening.
Removable overshoes are known (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,449,936, 2,924,029, 2,986,823, 3,422,550, and 6,023,856), and in at least one airport, reusable bedroom-type slippers are furnished to passengers who remove their shoes to go through security check-points; however, to date, as far as is known by the inventor, there has been no solution to the present problem and, hence, the need remains for a solution, preferably one that is simple, economical, and easily implemented.